PTC eyes hiring celltower consultant on contract

To better evaluate proposals for new celltowers, Peachtree City plans to enter a contract with an engineer specializing in the analysis of such projects.

At Thursday night’s City Council meeting, approval is expected for an agreement with consulting engineer David Snavely of Plantation, Fla.

Snavely’s fees will be covered by revenue from the new application fee that will be assessed on telecommunications companies seeking to erect new celltowers, according to a memo from City Attorney Ted Meeker.

According to the contract, Snavely will help the city by:

• Reviewing the need for the proposed tower based on cellular coverage and capacity;

• Identifying alternate suitable locations for the proposed tower or provide justification for the proposed location;

• Conduct and document a site visit including the surrounding area; and

• Providing a written recommendation for the proposed tower that addresses aesthetics, function, alternative designs, alternative locations, coverage and capacity and the impact to the surrounding area.

Snavely has experience working with both prevalent types of cellular systems: CDMA and GSM, and has worked with companies such as AT&T, Cingular and Sprint PCS. He also has conducted “site reviews” for a number of local governments throughout the Southeast, according to his resume.

Snavely will charge the city $150 an hour for engineering time, and up to $3,150 for a process that includes review of the cellular company’s submittal package, a site visit, report and testimony.

Per the contract, Snavely’s work will be capped at no more than $30,000 each fiscal year, unless additional expenditures are approved in writing by the city.

Comments

For $3100 and a rate of $150 an hour, the city will hire an engineer to analyze cell companies proposals and make recommendations. To the extent that most salient objections to cell towers are rooted in concerns about aesthetics and, perhaps to a lesser extent, health concerns, what exactly is this $30,000 a year going to tell us? Based on comments in the public forums as well as on this website, people aren't objecting to towers based on coverage and capacity. They're concerned about appearance.

This engineer will also give us "justification for the proposed location." Isn't that what the cell company is doing when they submit a request in the first place? He'll also recommend to us designs and alternative locations. Again, this responsibility rests with the private business (d/b/a large, wealthy cell phone companies) who have come to the city with their hands out. The responsibility for making a compelling case, in layman's terms, for their request rests with them.

As I understand it, these consulting fees will be paid for out of the application fee companies must pay to submit requests. What was the original intent of these funds? If they're subject to the city's discretion, do we not have more pressing needs than hiring an out-of-state professional to tell us what these companies should already be telling us?

Who came up with the idea to pay a consultant to do what the wireless companies have already done? All this does is to take the heat off the city by injecting a third party to take the heat for tower placement.

Who came up with the idea to pay a consultant to do what the wireless companies have already done? All this does is to take the heat off the city by injecting a third party to take the heat for tower placement.